Development changes in methods of information coding during sentence comprehension are investigated. Performance of children, kindergarten through grade four, on a memory task and a sentence comprehension task provide the primary data. First the type of memory code that is used in a retention task is determined for each child. The same children then are tested for speed and accuracy of sentence comprehension. In this task a short active affirmative sentence is presented. The subject studies (encodes) the sentence and responds as soon as it is understood. A picture then follows and the subject indicates whether it is consistent with the sentence (verification). Half of the sentences are studied silently, half are read aloud. Concomitant changes in memory coding for retention and coding for language comprehension are determined. Performance on each task is analysed as a function of age/grade. Intercorrelations among retention scores, response times for coding and verification, and correctness of response are evaluated. Comparison groups of hearing impaired children and a group of adult subjects are included.